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Abstract:

In the method for creating color patterns for technical applications and
visible for the human eye by means of diffraction gratings through light
irradiation, diffraction grating arrays are produced directly on a solid
body surface in a laser microstructuring process by at least one laser
installation in the nanosecond range or in the pico- or femtosecond
range, each diffraction grating array being composed of subareas (81)
whose longitudinal dimension has a value below the resolving ability of
the eye and which contain at least one pixel (81, 82, 83), a pixel being
a limited diffraction grating structure for producing a spectral color.
The direct application of such color-producing diffraction grating
structures to a solid body surface enables a large variety of decorative
and authentication possibilities ranging from embossing tools to
jewellery.

Claims:

1. A method for creating color patterns by diffraction gratings upon
irradiation with light, comprising: directly producing diffraction
grating arrays on a solid body surface in a laser microstructuring
process by irradiation with at least one laser installation in the
nanosecond range or in the pico- or femtosecond range, wherein each of
the diffraction grating arrays is composed of subareas whose longitudinal
dimension has a value below a resolving ability of an eye, wherein each
of the subareas contains at least one pixel, wherein the at least one
pixel is a limited diffraction grating structure for producing a single
spectral color, which is diffracted by chosen grating parameters and an
angle of incidence in determined diffraction angles in at least one
determined azimuthal viewing angle.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the subareas contains
at least two pixels, each having a different grating constant for
producing two different spectral colors in a same diffraction angle in a
same azimuthal viewing angle.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising choosing at least
one of a pixel area and a number of pixels such that a different in at
least one predetermined viewing direction to produce a mixed color.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein wavelengths for primary
spectral colors red, green, and blue are selected according to an
intended application, and that if the mixed color is to be viewed by a
human eye, three colors are red, green, and blue with a wavelength
λred of 630 nm, λgreen of 530 nm, and λblue of 430 nm.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the subareas have a maximum
longitudinal dimension of 200 μm and associated pixel areas have a
maximum longitudinal dimension of 66.67 μm.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one pixel is
linear or annular blazed gratings, linear or annular groove and rib
gratings, or columnar gratings having a circular or polygonal
cross-section.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising producing the
gratings with a laser mask projection procedure by masks that are
arranged in a mask and diaphragm rotational and changer device in a beam
path of an excimer laser.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising producing the
masks by a femtosecond laser according to a focus technique or a fluor
laser according to a mask projection technique; and irradiating a surface
of a substrate such that nontransparent areas are produced by roughening
and modifying the surface, the substrate being quartz glass, sapphire,
calcium fluoride, or magnesium fluoride.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one pixel
comprises diffraction gratings in a form of ripples produced by a pico-
or femtosecond laser.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the at least one pixel is
obtained by superposing the grating and the ripple structures.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising juxtaposing the
subareas to form signs, images, logos, or authentication features.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the solid body surface is a
hard material coated surface of an embossing roller or of an embossing
die for embossing packaging foils, the hard material coated surface
including ta-C, tungsten carbide, boron carbide, silicon carbide or
similar hard materials.

13. A device for implementing the method according to claim 1, comprising
a first laser installation of the at least one laser installation for
producing blazed gratings, groove and rib gratings or column grid
gratings comprising a KrF excimer laser having a wavelength of 248 nm, or
an ArF excimer laser having a wavelength of 193 nm, or a fluor laser
having a wavelength of 157 nm, or a XeCl excimer laser having a
wavelength of 308 nm, and a second laser installation of the at least one
laser installation for producing ripple structures comprising a
femtosecond laser having a centre wavelength of 775 nm or its
frequency-doubled or -tripled wavelength, or a picosecond laser of the
Nd:YAG type having a wavelength of 1064 nm or its frequency-doubled or
-tripled wavelength.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein at least one mask and
diaphragm combination are between the the excimer laser and imaging
optics of the excimer laser, a number of mask and diaphragm combinations
being arranged in a rotational and changer device and the changer device
being adapted to place two of the masks and one of the diaphragms in a
beam path of the excimer laser independently of each other, the masks and
diaphragms being arranged in holders while being displaceable linearly or
rotatively and rotatable about themselves.

15. The device according to claim 14, wherein each of the masks is a
triangular mask or a stripe mask for producing blazed gratings.

16. The device according to claim 13, the device configured to structure
areas on an embossing roller or an embossing die for embossing
diffraction-optically effective areas on a packaging foil.

17. The device according to claim 13, the device configured to produce
diffraction-optically effective signs or authentication features on
portions of coated or uncoated watch parts, watchglasses from glass or
sapphire, coins, or decorative objects.

18. A packaging foil embossed with the rollers or embossing dies
structured according to claim 16, wherein the packaging foil has
diffraction-optically effective areas and/or authentication features
comprising color pixels of a spectral color or color pixels of different
colors for creating mixed colors.

19. The packaging foil according to claim 18, wherein the packaging foil
is satinized in those locations where there are no diffraction-optically
effective areas, authentication features, and/or logos.

Description:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is the National Phase of PCT/CH2010/000294, filed
Nov. 22, 2010, which claims priority to European Application No.
09405227.1, filed Dec. 18, 2009. The contents of the foregoing
applications are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to a method for creating color
patterns by means of diffraction gratings upon irradiation with light. By
definition, the term "color pattern" encompasses all kinds of
modifications of a surface that produce a color, particularly also in the
human eye, the colors generally but not exclusively being mixed colors
that are created by diffraction of polychromatic light on corresponding
diffraction gratings. The colors or mixed colors, respectively, may
appear in structures, signs, logos, or in specific applications as
authentication features.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The production of spectral colors, primary colors, and thence of
mixed colors by means of grating structures has been known for a long
time. As representative examples thereof, the references WO 2006/066731
A1, WO 98/23979, or EP 0 585 966 A2 may be cited. All these and still
other references of the prior art have in common that the grating
structures are produced by laser or electron beam lithography in a
relatively soft synthetic substrate. These lithographic methods require
multiple and partly complex process steps for producing the grating
structures that are well known from the literature.

[0004] This applies also for the diffraction-based optical grating
structure according to the US 2006/0018021 A1 publication, which
discloses an elliptical structure.

[0005] A number of application fields are known where optical features are
used which have to meet high aesthetic requirements, on one hand, and
serve for the authentication of goods, on the other hand. A group of such
applications are e.g. packaging foils for cigarettes, foods, or
pharmaceuticals, these foils generally being embossed by means of
embossing rollers; or the surface of a decorative object, e.g. a part of
a watch case, a watchglass of glass or sapphire, or a coin may be the
object. Particularly in packaging foils, colored patterns might gain
increasing significance if the metallised layer were to be further
reduced or entirely omitted. With regard to the aforementioned embossing
tools or decorative objects, it is a metal surface that is being
structured, and in the case of embossing tools, a hard material layer.
This is e.g. disclosed in WO 2007/012215 A1 to the applicant of the
present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] On this background, it is an object of the present invention to
provide for a method and device for creating grating structures for
producing color patterns having a higher diffraction intensity and
spectral colors of higher brilliance and that are applied either to
embossing tools such as embossing rollers or embossing dies and from
there to packaging foils, or to decorative objects. This object is
attained by the method wherein diffraction grating arrays are produced
directly on a solid body surface in a laser microstructuring process by
irradiation with at least one laser installation in the nanosecond range
or in the pico- or femtosecond range, each diffraction grating array
being composed of subareas whose longitudinal dimension has a value below
the resolving ability of the eye and that each subarea contains at least
one pixel, a pixel being a limited diffraction grating structure for
producing a single spectral color, which is diffracted by the chosen
grating parameters and the angle of incidence (αe) in
determined diffraction angles (αm) in at least one determined
azimuthal viewing angle (aB).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The invention will be explained in more detail hereinafter with
reference to drawings of exemplary embodiments.

[0008]FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a device according to the
invention having two laser installations for creating diffraction grating
arrays directly on a solid body surface,

[0015] FIG. 8 shows a subarea that is no longer resolvable for the human
eye and is formed of a plurality of different color pixel areas.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] In FIG. 1, a device for producing diffraction gratings with two
laser installations is illustrated of which the one on the left in the
drawing is an excimer laser installation that is suitable for producing
e.g. blazed grating arrays and the laser installation on the right is a
femto- or picosecond laser installation that serves for creating masks
and/or diaphragms for producing the grating structures, on one hand, and
on the other hand is apt either to produce directly acting ripple grating
structures or to superpose the grating structures produced by the excimer
laser with a second grating structure that is based on a variation of the
spacing between the ripples.

[0017] The first laser installation L1, comprising a KrF excimer laser
having a wavelength of 248 nanometers (nm), serves to produce
microstructures in the solid body surface according to the mask
projection technique, and the second laser installation L2, comprising a
femtosecond laser 15 having a centre wavelength of 775 nm or its
frequency-doubled or -tripled wavelength, serves to produce either
nanostructures, e.g. ripple grating structures, in the solid body
surface, or to create masks, according to the focus technique. For the
purposes of the present application, the term "solid body" is meant to
include any substrate in whose surface microstructured diffraction
gratings can be produced by means of a laser, e.g. glass, watchglasses
from glass or sapphire, ceramics, suitable synthetic materials, and
mainly metallic surfaces on jewellery or coins, and particularly also
hard material coated surfaces of embossing tools such as embossing dies
and embossing plates for embossing packaging foils as well as organic
solid bodies. The surface may previously have been pre-treated,
chemically or mechanically processed, and structured. As a hard material
coating, e.g. tetrahedrally bonded amorphous carbon (ta-C), tungsten
carbide (WC), boron carbide (B4C), silicon carbide (SiC), or similar
hard materials may be contemplated.

[0018] The microstructures may e.g. be so-called blazed gratings having
grating periods of 1 to 2 μm, and the nanostructures may e.g. be
self-organized ripple structures having periods of 300 nm to 1000 nm
which act as optical diffraction gratings. As will be explained below,
any periodic array of the diffraction-optically active structures is
possible that produces an angular-dependent dispersion, i.e. a separation
into spectral colors, by diffraction upon irradiation with light.

[0019] In FIG. 1, a first laser, an excimer laser 1 is shown whose beam 2
has a rectangular cross-section here. The intensity of this laser beam
can be adjusted and varied by an attenuator 3. By means of homogenizer 3A
and field lens 3B, a homogenous intensity distribution across the laser
beam cross-section is created in homogenous spot HS. The intensity
profile across the laser beam cross-section that is required for the
microstructure to be produced is shaped from this homogenous intensity
distribution by means of mask 18 positioned in homogenous spot HS.

[0020] The geometrical shape of the opening in diaphragm 6 arranged after
the mask, and preferably in contact therewith, produces the
cross-sectional geometry or contour shape of the intensity profile of the
laser beam shaped by mask 18. Mask 18 and diaphragm 6 are located in a
mask and diaphragm changer device.

[0021] Instead of a KrF excimer laser, an ArF excimer laser having a
wavelength of 193 nm, a fluor (F2) laser having a wavelength of 157
nm, or a XeCl excimer laser having a wavelength of 308 nm can be used as
first laser 1.

[0022] Instead of a femtosecond laser, a picosecond laser of the Nd:YAG
type having a wavelength of 1064 nm or its frequency-doubled wavelength
of 532 nm or its frequency-tripled wavelength of 266 nm can be used as
second laser 15.

[0023] The laser beam shaped by mask 18 and diaphragm 6, see also FIG. 2,
impinges on a deflection mirror 7 that guides the beam through an
appropriate imaging optics 8 for this laser beam which images the
appropriate laser intensity profile for the microstructure onto surface 9
of the ta-C layer on embossing roller 10 at a predetermined imaging scale
of e.g. 8:1. By rotation arrows 11 it is indicated that embossing roller
10 can be rotated about its longitudinal axis by predetermined angles.
Embossing roller 10 is arranged on a displacing device 32.

[0024] In order to adjust, monitor, and stabilize the power and thus the
intensity of the laser beam, a small fraction of the laser beam is
directed by means of beam splitter 4 onto a power meter 5 that delivers
data for the control of attenuator 3 and/or laser 1. This power meter 5
may selectively be exchanged for a laser beam intensity profile measuring
device 5A, which is indicated by a double arrow in FIG. 1. Devices 5 and
5A are positioned at the same distance from beam splitter 4 as mask 18
located in homogenous spot HS in order to allow a correct measurement of
the power and of the intensity distribution of the laser beam in
homogenous spot HS, i.e. in the mask plane. A camera 26 serves for
observing the microstructuring process. To this end, deflection mirror 7
has an interference layer system that reflects the excimer laser
radiation of 248 nm wavelength but transmits visible light.

[0025] To adjust a precisely determined position of the imaging plane of
the laser beam imaged by imaging optics 8 onto the ta-C layer to be
structured over the entire surface area of embossing roller 10, the
position and the production-related deviations of the embossing roller
from the ideal geometry are measured by means of device 16 for the
position survey of the embossing roller, e.g. by means of trigonometric
measuring methods. These measuring data are then used for the automatic
adjustment of embossing roller 10 by means of displacing device 32 and
for the correction control of the z-axis of displacing device 32 during
the structuring process.

[0026] As already briefly mentioned in the description of the exemplary
embodiment according to FIG. 1, the intensity profile required for the
excimer laser structuring process according to the mask projection
technique is shaped by means of a mask and a diaphragm.

[0027] This process will be explained in more detail herebelow with
reference to FIG. 2: From the homogenous intensity distribution 74 of
laser beam 29 in homogenous spot HS, the intensity profile across the
laser beam cross-section required for the microstructure to be produced
in the ta-C layer on embossing roller 10 is shaped by means of mask 18
positioned in homogenous spot HS. In the present schematic view, mask 18
has transparent areas 19 arranged in a grid-like manner and surface areas
20 that are opaque to the laser beam, and thus forms a grid-like
intensity profile 75 with cuboidal intensity profile portions.

[0028] Diaphragm 6, which in the direction of the laser beam is arranged
after the mask and preferably in contact therewith, produces the
cross-sectional geometry of the intensity profile of the laser beam
shaped by mask 18 by the geometrical shape of its opening or transparent
surface area. In the present illustration, the shape of diaphragm opening
6T or the surface area of the diaphragm within the opaque portion 6P that
is transparent to the laser beam is in the form of a triangle, and
consequently, after the diaphragm, the intensity profile 76 of laser beam
29A exhibits a triangular cross-sectional geometry.

[0029] In FIG. 2, the grating period of mask 18 and the thickness as well
as the spacing of the cuboidal intensity profile portions of laser beam
intensity profile 75, 76 after the mask are depicted on a strongly
enlarged scale in the x coordinate direction. The grating period of the
mask measures in an example at an imaging ratio of the mask projection
system of 8:1, 4 to 20 μm in order to produce e.g. grating structures
having grating periods of 0.5 to 5 μm in solid body surface 9, e.g. a
ta-C layer on embossing roller 10, by means of laser beam 29A shaped by
the mask. In reality, with equal sizes of the surface areas of homogenous
spot HS and of the structured area of mask 18 of e.g. 8 mm×8 mm=64
mm2, the structured mask area, in contrast to the schematic
illustration of FIG. 2, consists of a stripe grating having 2000 to 400
grating periods, and the laser beam shaped therewith consists of 2000 to
400 cuboidal intensity profile portions.

[0030] The size, shape, spacing, position, and number of transparent
surface areas of mask 18, hereinafter called the mask structure,
determine the laser beam intensity profile for creating the
microstructure having a predetermined optical effect in the ta-C layer,
and diaphragm 6 determines the cross-sectional geometry of the laser beam
intensity profile and thus the geometrical shape of the microstructured
area element on the embossing roller. The term "area element" is used
here to designate the surface on the embossing roller or embossing die
that is structured by the laser beam shaped by the mask and the diaphragm
and imaged onto the ta-C coated roller surface in a laser beam pulse
sequence without a relative movement of the laser beam and the roller
surface.

[0031] Consequently, by a variation of the mask structure, and
particularly by rotating the mask about the optical axis of the laser
beam by predetermined angles, the orientation of the laser beam intensity
profile shaped by the mask and imaged on the ta-C layer of the embossing
roller by means of focusing optics 8 can be varied and thus the optical
effect of the microstructured area element upon irradiation with
polychromatic light, e.g. the viewing direction and the viewing angle, as
well as color and intensity.

[0032] By rotating diaphragm 6 about the optical axis of the laser beam by
predetermined angles, the orientation of the cross-sectional geometry
shaped by the diaphragm of the laser beam imaged on the ta-C layer on the
embossing roller by means of the focusing optics is varied and thus the
orientation of the laser-structured area element on the surface of the
embossing roller.

[0033] The microstructured area elements may either be juxtaposed
according to a particular pattern or, after rotating the mask by a
predetermined angle, superposed with the same microstructure under this
predetermined angle. Furthermore, if different masks are used, different
microstructures can be superposed in an area element. If they are
juxtaposed, the area elements may have the same or different surface
shapes and microstructures.

[0034] When white light radiation, near-sunlight, is diffracted or when a
diffraction grating is irradiated with polychromatic light, e.g. with
daylight fluorescent lamps or light bulbs, hereinafter briefly called
"light", due to the wavelength-dependent diffraction angle, the so-called
diffraction angular dispersion occurs, i.e. a separation into the
spectral colors whose photons have a particular wavelength, i.e. into
monochromatic light. Therefore, if none of the diffraction orders
overlap, only these spectral colors are observed in the diffracted light.

[0035] According to the invention, by means of diffraction grating arrays,
mixed colors are created by the superposition of multiple photon
wavelengths of the spectral colors which may be viewed under one or
multiple predetermined viewing angles and one or multiple predetermined
azimuthal viewing directions of the diffraction grating arrays. By means
of diffraction grating arrays in a solid body surface having different
grating periods in the microscopic subareas--color pixel areas below the
resolving ability of the human eye, the mixed colors are preferably
produced, upon irradiation of the diffraction grating array with light,
from photons of the three different primary spectral color wavelengths
red, green, and blue appearing in the diffraction spectrum, the
wavelengths for the primary spectral colors being selected depending on
the intended application. Thus, if the mixed color is to be viewed by the
human eye, for the primary spectral color red, a wavelength λred of
630 nm, for green, a wavelength λgreen of 530 nm, and for blue, a
wavelength λblue of 430 nm are e.g. advantageous.

[0036] The diffraction grating array may e.g. be composed of color pixel
diffraction grating areas producing the primary colors red, green, and
blue, analogously to the cone photoreceptors of the human eye which
contain three different types of visual pigments that are mainly
sensitive to red, green, and blue. Applicable diffraction grating types
are e.g. groove and rib gratings, column grid gratings, and blazed
gratings that are e.g. produced by excimer laser structuring according to
the mask projection technique, or self-organized ripple gratings having
predetermined, adjusted ripple grating periods that are produced by
femto- or picosecond laser irradiation according to the focus technique,
or by superposition of both structures.

[0037] For a predetermined angle of incidence of the light, or on diffuse
irradiation, respectively, the grating period and the orientation of the
diffraction grating within the color pixel area determine the diffraction
directions of the spectral colors and thus the viewing angle and the
azimuthal viewing direction of the primary color of the individual color
pixel. In this respect, the wavelengths of the mixed color have to be
chosen and the diffraction gratings of the arrays aligned such that the
diffraction angle and the diffraction direction of at least one
diffraction order are the same for each wavelength of the mixed color in
order to achieve an effective color mixture under at least one viewing
angle in at least one azimuthal viewing direction.

[0038] Hereinafter, the creation of a blazed grating structure as well as
the production of a suitable mask for creating the blazed grating
structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 8. In a blazed
grating, the maximum of the separating function and thus the highest
intensity maximum can be shifted from the maximum of the 0th diffraction
order to a maximum of a higher diffraction order through a variation of
the inclination of the steps, i.e. through a variation of blaze angle
αB, since the maximum of the separating function and thus the
highest intensity maximum is always located in the reflection direction
relative to the step normal SN. When αB varies, the
diffraction angles αm=viewing angles of the different
diffraction orders and thus the positions of the maxima of the grating
diffraction remain unchanged as long as the grating period g and the
angle of incidence αe of the incident light are kept constant.
Furthermore, in FIG. 3, s denotes the blazed grating side, h the blazed
grating height, eS the incident beam, GN the grating normal, and SN the
step normal.

[0039] Since nearly the entire grating surface, or more precisely the
surface formed by the step width s multiplied by the grating furrow
length and the number of furrows, is utilized for the diffraction, the
diffraction intensities and thus the observed brilliance of the
diffracted spectral colors are substantially higher in a blazed grating
than on diffraction on a simple stripe grating=groove and rib grating.

[0040] The blazed grating structure of FIG. 3 is produced by means of mask
of FIG. 4, this mask consisting of a quartz glass substrate whose opaque
surface may be produced by a femtosecond laser or F2 laser beam
while the transmitting triangular areas which are to produce the blazed
grating structure upon irradiation with the foregoing excimer laser and
simultaneous scanning of the mask are spared. By the irradiation with
femtosecond laser pulses or fluor laser pulses, the surface of the quartz
substrate is roughened and modified so that the incident light is
scattered but not absorbed. The term "modified" designates an alteration
of the material density, structure, and refractive index of the substrate
here. In this manner, a very low thermal load, a high dimensional
accuracy, and a very long lifetime of such masks are ensured.

[0041] In the production of the mask in the quartz glass substrate by
means of the femtosecond laser according to the focus technique or the
F2 laser according to the mask projection technique, the
nontransparent area that leaves the transmitting transparent triangular
areas free is produced by scanning with the smallest possible focus or
imaging cross-section F and overlapping laser pulses that are represented
in FIG. 4 as small grey filled circles of the fs laser or small black
filled circles of the F2 laser. The small squares indicate that
square cross-sectional shapes of the laser beam may be used as well. In
this manner, except for the transmitting triangular areas shown in white,
the entire surface area shown in grey in FIG. 4 is scanned. More
specifically, the surface of the scanned areas is roughened and modified
with a suitable fluence of the laser beam in such a manner that these
areas strongly scatter the incident laser beam portions of the excimer
laser and thus act as opaque areas for the laser beam.

[0042] The quantity G is the base of the transmitting triangle and is
equal to 8× grating constant g since an imaging ratio of 8:1 is
used here for producing the blazed grating according to the excimer laser
mask projection technique by means of this mask. Correspondingly, H is
the height and φ the base angle of the transmitting triangle, and I
is the distance between the transmitting triangles in the mask scanning
direction. If an F2 laser installation is used, a different imaging
ratio of 25:1 is used.

[0043] Blazed grating structures may alternatively be produced by means of
stripe masks 79 according to FIG. 5, the stripe mask having two different
stripe widths as required for producing a blazed grating furrow, whose
transmittance varies between 0 and 1 and between 1 and 0 over the
respective stripe width according to predetermined linear or step
functions. Here again, the indications 8 g and 8 g×sin
αB result from the imaging ratio of 8:1 used in the creation
of the blazed grating structures according to the mask projection
technique.

[0044] There are a large number of possible variations in the production
of suitable masks that may by created by means of fs or F2 laser
installations. The selected masks are placed together with suitable
diaphragms in a changer device for producing the blazed grating
structures in the first laser installation L1, i.e. for an excimer laser
1 according to the mask projection technique. The diaphragms can be
produced according to the same production technique as the masks. As
substrates for masks or diaphragms, quartz glass (SiO2), sapphire
(Al2O3), calcium fluoride (CaF2), or magnesium fluoride
(MgF2) may be used.

[0045] The femtosecond laser can be used to produce ripples that are
arranged in a grating structure and allow to create spectral colors that
can be mixed. For the adjustable creation of different ripple spacings
which produce the desired grating constant for the creation of the
respective spectral color, the plane of the substrate is inclined by a
determined angle relative to the laser beam during the creation of the
ripples.

[0046] Since, as already mentioned, the eye is still just able to resolve
an area of 200 μm×200 μm, the maximum side length of a square
color pixel must be smaller than 200 μm divided by three=66,67 μm.
Then, to produce a mixed color, a subarea of 200 μm×200 μm
contains at least 9 square color pixels for the primary colors red,
green, and blue, each color pixel by definition containing a single
spectral color as the primary color. Thus, for a color pixel side length
of 33.33 μm, a subarea 81 according to FIG. 8 contains a total of 36
square color pixels 82, 83, 84 for the primary colors red, green, and
blue.

[0047] These orders of magnitude enable a new class of authentication
features where in a particular subarea e.g. one or only a few color
pixels of a different color are interspersed that are not visible to the
eye but detectable by an adapted spectrometer.

Herebelow, an exemplary calculation for a grating structure according to
subarea 81 of FIG. 8 is indicated. For a side length of a square color
pixel of 33.33 μm, perpendicular light incidence, and a diffraction
angle=viewing angle αm for red, green, and blue of 30°
with the calculated values for the grating periods of gred=1.26
μm, ggreen=1.06 μm, gblue=0.86 μm, the red pixel
square contains 29 grating periods, the green pixel square 38 grating
periods, and the blue pixel square 47 grating periods.

[0048] The diffraction intensity of a color pixel is a function of the
number of grating periods, i.e. of the total grating furrow length within
the color pixel, and of the wavelength of the primary color. Intensity
control can only be achieved via the size of the surface area or the
number of individual primary color pixels, respectively. In this regard,
different factors such as the light source have to be taken into account,
i.e. e.g. sunlight during the day, in the morning or in the evening,
daylight fluorescent lamp, light bulb or the like, which have different
intensity characteristics over the emitted wavelength range and thus
influence the intensity of each spectral color. Furthermore, the human
eye, i.e. the photopic spectral sensitivity of the human eye to the
selected wavelengths of the primary colors has to be taken into account.

[0049] According to calculations based on the DIN 5033 standard color
chart, the color white is e.g. obtained from the aforementioned spectral
colors red, green, and blue produced by grating diffraction in a viewing
direction with the following pixel layout when a subarea of 200
μm×200 μm made up of 36 color pixels having a pixel surface
area of 33.33 μm×33.33 μm each is composed of: 14 red color
pixels 82, 10 green color pixels 83, and 12 blue color pixels 84.

[0050] According to the same calculations, the color pink is obtained with
the following pixel layout: 22 red pixels 82, 3 green pixels 83, and 11
blue pixels 84. Based on the same calculation, skin color is obtained
with the following pixel layout: 21 red pixels 82, 7 green pixels 83, and
8 blue pixels 84.

[0051] The reference to the resolving ability of the human eye does not
mean that the produced spectral and mixed colors are not machine-readable
and -analysable as well. Especially in the case of authentication
features, which should generally be as small as possible, machine reading
is particularly appropriate.

[0052] For a predetermined angle of incidence of the light, the grating
period and the orientation of the diffraction grating within the color
pixel area determine the diffraction directions of the spectral colors
and thus the viewing angle and the azimuthal viewing direction of the
primary color of the individual pixel. In this regard, the different
grating periods for the individual wavelengths of the mixed color have to
be chosen and the diffraction gratings of the arrays aligned such that
the diffraction angle and the diffraction direction of at least one
diffraction order are the same for each wavelength of the mixed color in
order to achieve an effective color mixture under at least one viewing
angle in at least one azimuthal viewing direction.

[0053] According to FIG. 3, in blazed grating 77, αB is the
angle of inclination of the diffracting grating furrows (blaze angle) and
diffraction angle αm is the angle between grating normal GN
and the diffraction direction of the intensity maximum of the diffracted
monochromatic beam portion gs of the respective diffraction order z and
hence indicates the viewing angle αm and the viewing direction
gS for this beam portion at a predetermined angle of incidence
αe.

[0054] Diffraction angle αm is determined by the wavelength of
the incident light, by the angle of incidence αe, and by
grating period g. The term "azimuthal viewing direction" aB of the
diffracted monochromatic beam portion refers to the direction,
originating from grating normal GN, of the intersecting line of the plane
spanned by the grating normal and by diffraction direction gS with
grating plane GE, which is characterised by azimuth angle αz,
see also FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, sB denotes the viewing direction of the
diffracted beam.

[0055] Thus, the viewing angle for the mixed color is furthermore
dependent upon the matched grating periods of the different color pixel
types, and the viewing direction is determined by the orientation of the
grating structures, i.e. of grating furrows GF in the different color
pixel areas required for creating the mixed color. The creation of a
mixed color has to be achieved within a subarea that is no longer
resolvable for the human eye of at most 200 μm×200 μm that is
formed by a sufficient number of different color pixel areas.

[0056] Multiple viewing directions can be realised if grating furrows GF
within the color pixels have multiple azimuthal orientations: If e.g. the
grating structures in one half of the pixels of a primary color contained
in a subarea are arranged perpendicularly to the grating structures in
the other half of the pixels, there are also two azimuthal viewing
directions aB perpendicular to one another, especially upon irradiation
of the grating with diffuse white light, see FIG. 8. To this end,
however, half of the total number of color pixels within the subarea must
be sufficient for producing the mixed color. In this case, however, the
mixed color will be perceived with a reduced intensity in each of the two
azimuthal viewing directions.

[0057] Also, in this manner, three azimuthal viewing directions that are
offset 120° from each other can be realised. According to FIG. 6,
with the aid of a column grid grating 80, i.e. by columns P in the form
of elevations or complementary pits of different cross-sectional shapes,
e.g. circular, triangular, rectangular, hexagonal, and different
dimensions, multiple azimuthal viewing directions can be realized. For
example, a triangular column or pit cross-section results in three
azimuthal viewing directions aB that are offset by 2/3π=120°.

[0058] If different pixel sizes for the primary colors are chosen, the
side lengths of the larger pixels have to be an integer multiple of the
side length of the smallest pixel so that the subarea can be completely
filled with color pixels in order to achieve the maximally possible mixed
color intensity. A reduction of the intensity, i.e. a darkening effect,
can be achieved by inserting pixel areas into the subarea that are e.g.
unstructured in the case of ta-C layer substrates or have grating
structures which absorb light wavelengths or diffract in a different
direction.

[0059] To control the intensity of the primary colors for the creation of
the mixed colors, besides the number and the surface area of the color
pixels and the choice of the diffraction order of the pixels in the
viewing direction, different diffraction grating types in the pixels of
the primary colors of a subarea can be utilised since e.g. blazed
gratings produce higher intensities than groove and rib gratings.

[0060] According to the invention, the diffraction grating arrays are
applied to surfaces of solid bodies such as metals, metallic alloys,
glasses, synthetic materials having hard surfaces, as well as ta-C layers
or other hard materials such as hard metals, carbides such as tungsten
carbide or boron carbide. More specifically, diffraction grating arrays
can be applied to wear-resistant hard materials, e.g. to embossing tools
for embossing authentication features, color patterns, or signs having a
color effect on packaging foils, while it is apparent that the negative
of the diffraction grating structures on the embossing tool has to be
designed with such a cross-sectional geometry and such dimensions of the
microstructures that based on the properties of the material that is to
be embossed and the embossing parameters, the embossed positive
represents the optimum diffraction grating pattern for the intended
diffraction-optical effect.

[0061] The first laser installation L1 with a changer device for
diaphragms and masks that allows placing any desired mask and any desired
diaphragm into the beam path of the excimer laser enables a large variety
not only of different grating structures having different grating
constants, but also a large number of possible designs of the outer
contour of the grating structure areas. Thus it is possible to design the
shape of the structured area elements that are composed of a plurality of
subareas as squares, rectangles, triangles, parallelograms, hexagons,
etc., or possibly as circles, the most diverse grating structures for
creating colors and mixed colors being possible in these area elements.
In certain dispositions it is also possible e.g. to create
three-dimensionally appearing cube patterns composed of three
parallelograms or stars having multiple rays.

[0062] Furthermore, the two laser installations allow to superpose the
most diverse grating structures, e.g. first to produce a particular
grating structure and area elements arranged in a pattern by means of the
excimer laser, onto which ripple grating structures are applied by means
of the femtosecond laser in order to create another combination of colors
and mixed colors that may particularly also be used as authentication
features. Also, different viewing angles can be realised, or stepwise or
continuous color changes, or the appearance and disappearance of color
patterns or color images upon inclination or rotation of the diffraction
grating pattern by a stepwise variation of the grating periods or of the
orientation of the grating furrows.

Patent applications by Charles Boegli, Marin CH

Patent applications in class For ornamental effect or display

Patent applications in all subclasses For ornamental effect or display